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[00:00:27] Justin Kendall: Next on the Brewbound podcast, the BA's mid-year number, RNDC's crash and burn, and Boston Beer's rally dog. Hello and welcome to the Brewbound podcast. I'm Justin Kendall.
[00:00:49] Zoe Licata: And I'm Zoe Licata.
[00:00:51] Justin Kendall: And no Justin Fonte this week. She's taking a much deserved vacation. Look for her on the beaches of Jersey.
[00:01:00] Zoe Licata: Yes.
[00:01:01] Justin Kendall: And she'll be looking for airplanes and advertisements.
[00:01:05] Zoe Licata: Yeah. Hopefully there's some actual exciting banner planes for her.
[00:01:09] Justin Kendall: She already got the welcome to LeBron James from a hard sports drink.
[00:01:16] Zoe Licata: Yeah.
[00:01:17] Justin Kendall: Super Lyte. Anyway, we've got a lot going on this week. Got to plug Brewbound Live. That's coming up December 9th and 10th in Los Angeles. We're going to be joined by Lester Jones from the National Beer Wholesalers Association and Jen Hawk from DraftLine. They're going to give us the on-premise overview. As they put it, it's a occasions, not volume year. Lots of occasions going on. We've got coverage of all of that, by the way, at Brewbound.com. You can check out our beer board coverage of what's gone on with the World Cup. You can look at the latest off-premise scan report with a final look on Circana scans of what happened during the World Cup. And it wasn't quite great for the off-premise.
[00:02:02] Zoe Licata: No. On-premise, awesome. Off-premise, meh.
[00:02:07] Justin Kendall: So there's a reason for Lester and Jen's logic here. You can check them out at Bremont Live. You can also check out our job board. We've got some great jobs up there. You can list a job. A lot of great companies have. Four Hands in St. Louis is looking for a sales manager. My old friends there, my old stomping grounds of Missouri, You've got Alaskan, they're looking for a Minnesota sales rep. You've got Revolution in Chicago. You could be a key accounts manager there. Prairie Malt looking for a craft manager in New York and Los Angeles. Lots of great jobs out there. And if you're looking for your next star employee, the Brewbound job board is the place to go. So head on over there, but let's get into the news. And, uh, do you want to start with RNDC or do you want to start with the Brewers Association's mid-year number?
[00:02:58] Zoe Licata: I think we have to start with RNDC because that seems to be all that anyone is talking about right now.
[00:03:04] Justin Kendall: Quite the news to come back to, not that it was unexpected. I think everybody sort of anticipated that this was eventually the outcome that we were going to see, but they filed for chapter 11 over the weekend, quote unquote, to explore potential sale transactions in court and implement an orderly wind down of our remaining operations. And there's not a whole lot of those left.
[00:03:31] Zoe Licata: No, there is not. They have a couple of JVs that are not included in this. Those are unaffected and will continue. But whatever is left, we know there's been tons of sales recently, including 11 markets that went to raise. Those are continuing on. Those are happening. This is for what is remaining. So this really gave us a peek inside of what has been going on at RNDC, what kind of debt that they're dealing with. And it is quite substantial.
[00:03:59] Justin Kendall: If you thought you had credit card debt, R&DC's total liabilities are between $1 billion and $10 billion. Yeah.
[00:04:08] Zoe Licata: So we don't have the exact number yet, but that is kind of the box that they checked off. They've listed in there. They're quite a box to check off. I think that's like the third largest thing you can check on there. There's a lot of boxes to get to before that one. So, pretty significant. I think our fellow trade press, Beer Marketer's Insights, said this is some of the largest numbers they have ever seen, and they've been around for a very, very long time. We have seen some of the folks that are included in, you know, who some of that money is owed to in the filings, including the largest unsecured claims. And the one at the top of the list is Proximo Spirits. They're the folks that own Jose Cuervo. And they have $93.92 million in unsecured claims.
[00:04:56] Justin Kendall: Unsecured? Unsecured. That's a bad place to be.
[00:04:59] Zoe Licata: Yes. Yes. So they're at the top of the list, though I will say there's a caveat with that claim because a couple folks down on that list is Wells Fargo and they had an undetermined amount under their unsecured claim. But then in their kind of total claim list, if partially secured, is $224.95 million.
[00:05:21] Justin Kendall: Incredible.
[00:05:23] Zoe Licata: Yeah.
[00:05:23] Justin Kendall: This is a brutal story. And we have a follow-up story up now that includes some comments from some smaller suppliers. And as you could expect, they are at the back of the line on getting paid back. I don't know that there's much hope for them as far as getting paid back either, especially when you have all these secured creditors ahead of them on the list. And just a gut-wrenching comment from Tara Hannaford, founder of Atollo Spirits, who said, it's putting brands out of business that should be able to be actively conducting business in the marketplace. And she's not the only one. There are a lot of folks feeling this. But it just tells you that this has just hit these suppliers very hard.
[00:06:10] Zoe Licata: Yeah. I mean, RNDC estimated more than 100,000 creditors on a consolidated basis. And those are not all beverage suppliers. So that's not all the brands, but there are plenty of brands in there. And so those folks are going to feel it. And the way that they're setting up this bankruptcy process, those folks are not going to be the number one priority. Keep an eye on Brewbound.com and on LinkedIn and all social feeds, because we're going to continue to monitor kind of the fallout of this and what's happening, both on our end and on the BevNET end with our spirits editor, Ferron Salniker. So it's definitely not the end. We are going to continue to have many, many RNDC conversations.
[00:06:50] Justin Kendall: Great job by both of you, you and Farron.
[00:06:52] Zoe Licata: Props to Farron for plowing through those. The first document was 33 pages, and that was just the very beginning.
[00:07:01] National Beer: Mark your calendar. Brewbound Live is back on December 9th and 10th in Los Angeles. Join brewers, distributors, investors, suppliers, and industry partners for two days of beer and beverage alcohol conversations, fresh perspectives, and product discovery. Early registration pricing is available now. Head to brewboundlive.com to register.
[00:07:21] Justin Kendall: Well, let's talk about the Brewers Association's mid-year update. We've got an estimated volume number as minus four so far through the halfway point.
[00:07:31] Zoe Licata: Yeah, which is pretty consistent with how last year ended after they adjusted their numbers. Seems to be on the same track now. This is based off their kind of mid-year survey, which is also means that it could be different depending on whatever the response bias is. The positive note on this was that more than half of respondents said they are growing through the first six months of the year. Again, response bias could be playing a factor there, but just because the overall segment is down, it's not the case for all suppliers.
[00:08:06] Justin Kendall: Makes me think about the Craft Brewers Conference and the good vibes coming out of there. And I like that BA staff economist, Matt Kasiok, is kind of checking us and saying, you know, there may be some response bias here. I mean, if you're doing better, you're likely to be more likely to report than you are if you're doing poorly. As far as those who have done poorly, it also seems like the number of closures has upticked.
[00:08:33] Zoe Licata: Yeah, so the number of total breweries in operation is down. So right now, as of through June 2026, it's at just over 9,300 breweries. At the same point in 2025, it was just over 9,500. So it's nearly 200 fewer craft breweries in operation now. Jess, who covered this story, pointed out the rate of closings is what's increasing. So the rate of brewery closings was at 1.8% and that is nearly double what it was for the first half of 2025.
[00:09:07] Justin Kendall: And the breweries that are closing, the largest share of those are distributing business model breweries.
[00:09:13] Zoe Licata: Yeah which is on trend with something we've talked about a couple of times where it's craft is finding its strength in these hospitality focused businesses and the tap rooms and brew pubs and things that are adding an element other than just competing in these retailers and off premise that is a mess of folks clawing for what growth is out there. One thing that's worth noting is, so the Brewer's Associates number, the down 4% number, that is different than what you'll see in like off-premise scans, and those are a little bit steeper. That is due to, you know, those numbers aren't including things like taproom sales, which are a significant portion of craft sales. So if you see that there's conflicting numbers going on, that is why.
[00:09:59] Justin Kendall: Yeah. Well, let's talk about Boston beers, second quarter results and Boston beer shipments declined four and a half percent year over year. That was a slight improvement from the 6.9% decline recorded in Q1. However, depletions, they went from down 4% to down 6% in Q2. So a little up, a little down and a lot of sun cruiser.
[00:10:30] Zoe Licata: A lot of Suncruiser. Two brands that have been up for Boston Beer now through Q2 are solely Suncruiser and Angry Orchard. There was a moment there where we're seeing Dogfish Head was also contributing some growth. That is now over after basically a full year of growth. And so yeah, they're solely banking really on Suncruiser and some smaller gains from some other brands. They talked a lot about hard tea because, you know, Suncruiser, this new-ish brand now, I mean, I don't know how long we can call it new, but still expanding their off-premise presence because they focused a lot on on-premise to begin with. And then there's Twisted Tea, which is still a massive part of Boston Beer's business, but continues to face declines. Jim Cook said on the earnings call that happened last week that at the end of the day when you kind of combine their total tea business, their volume is very slightly positive. Those sudden cruiser gains are just outweighing the declines happening from Twisted Tea, which is a little scary that that's in his words very slightly positive. And he admitted that there is cannibalization going on, that some of Twisted Tea's recent struggles are from spirits-based hard teas, including Suncruiser, taking sales away. Part of it is also just based on what is happening with the flavored milk beverage segment, and that is getting hit with both consumer changes and what they're looking for when it comes to pack size and when it comes to alcohol base. 12 packs are not doing well. Then also on the retailer side, they're switching up how they are setting up their shelves. They're not putting these 12 packs up as much as they are six packs or single serves. And their displays are now focusing more on RCDs rather than F&Bs. So there's kind of a lot of things going against F&Bs, which is in turn affecting Twisted Tea on top of this increased tea competition. Of course, Twisted Tea still has an insane majority of share of the RT segment. What was his percentage? Like 85%? And the next largest competitor, he said, is less than 5% share. So it's a massive, massive share still, but it's not growing.
[00:12:42] Justin Kendall: If there is some good news in the trade-off of Twisted Tea for Suncruiser, it's that you're trading that consumer up. It's just that Surfside's grabbing some of that too. It's not all going to Suncruiser.
[00:12:58] Zoe Licata: Yeah, it's not all going to Suncruiser. But yes, Jim did point out, you know, Suncruiser is both a revenue and margin accredited brand for Boston beer. So they are benefiting from that trade, at least a little bit.
[00:13:14] Justin Kendall: How long before we're going to have an equalization talk and we're going to revisit this whole battle of spirits getting into the cold box and excise tax equalization with malt products? You think we're going to get there eventually because you've got Anheuser-Busch with Cutwater in neutral and everything else that they are working on or have. Beatbox is wine based for the most part, so it doesn't really factor in there. But then you have Boston's growth brand is Suncruiser and Jim has been one of the biggest warriors against equalization. You've got any number of these products that have popped up, but it's mostly the beer companies that are benefiting here in this space. How long before we revisit that and we have a change of heart, if we do at all?
[00:14:12] Zoe Licata: I mean the spirit side of this has been adamant about trying to make these changes and it's been one of their top priorities for several years now since we started seeing these spirits based RTDs and hard seltzers really were the first things popping up four or five years ago now at least. And yeah, Big Beer or beer in general has been mostly against it, I think, because still a majority of their business is not in spirits-based. And I don't know if we'll get to a point where their perspective switches. Yes, their incremental growth is for a lot of these brands is coming almost exclusively from spirits-based products. But that segment is still such a tiny percent of overall sales. I don't know if making those changes would end up in a large enough positive impact for those beer folks participating.
[00:15:03] Justin Kendall: Plus, the spirits companies have really struggled with the RTD space. They didn't really figure it out at the start. That allowed AB and Boston and these other companies to really capitalize When we see the Beer Institute change its tune, we'll know that things have changed. So far, that is not the case. They're remaining steadfast, but just curious how long that lasts when your growth brands are really in that area.
[00:15:33] Zoe Licata: Yeah. I mean, I think it's going to be dependent on how long this quote-unquote trend of these spirits-based products last. Everyone has been asking for a long time now, how sticky is this? We're seeing it now. It has more staying power than some certain trends in the past, but who knows what it's going to look like in another five years.
[00:15:54] Justin Kendall: Well, and then you have Boston's innovations too. And we should talk a little bit about them because two of them are both spirit-based.
[00:16:02] Zoe Licata: Yes, so the first is one that's already been out. We've talked about before is Sinless, which is their vodka cocktails. That one is essentially what Jim called out on the call is their competitor or their response to Carbolis.
[00:16:18] Justin Kendall: He actually name checked them?
[00:16:19] Zoe Licata: Yes. He specifically called out Carbless in saying they were talking about the markets that Sinlis is in and that all of the 34 markets that they're in, it's a new to the world product and that they are specifically avoiding markets that Carbless has already built a significant following or an established market in.
[00:16:39] Justin Kendall: Boo-hoo, you're not doing the Midwest. You just have to work the coast. Oh, man. Terrible for you.
[00:16:46] Zoe Licata: He said only the upper Midwest, too, I think is what he said.
[00:16:50] Justin Kendall: So he's avoiding Wisconsin and Minnesota, but everything else is fair game. Yeah.
[00:16:55] Zoe Licata: Cool. Yeah. Yeah, so they're not they're not expanding to any other new markets right now. That's something that's going to be happening in 2027. But those 34 markets, he says that it is going well. So that is a vodka based offering. And then we have learned. So on the earnings call, one of the analysts brought up, you know, you guys have a label out for a spiked aid. And none of the leadership directly responded to that, but we looked it up and shout out to Dave Infante from the Fingers newsletter who also looked us up and we were discussing this with. And they at least have a label filed for what they are calling Rally Dog, which is a vodka based hard sports drink. They're calling it a vodka aid made with, quote, real vodka, no bubbles and a hint of sea salt, unquote. with this little cartoon dog mascot on it.
[00:17:47] Justin Kendall: That was curious.
[00:17:48] Zoe Licata: Yeah. Not sure what their thought process is or what the kind of marketing behind that little dog mascot is going to be. But yeah, it's going to be a 5% ABV, if and when this comes out, 5% ABV offering. So it's in line with all these other vodka-based spiked sports drinks that we're seeing.
[00:18:07] Justin Kendall: I had real questions when I saw the dog because I thought that there was restrictions on cartoon labels like that that might appeal to a certain childlike demographic.
[00:18:22] Zoe Licata: Valid. I don't know. I don't know what they're doing to get around that. I mean, it's a bright, brightly colored packaging. The label we specifically pulled was the bright blue packaging of their Berry Breeze flavor with this little white dog on it. It is definitely a younger looking packaging design. It's not the first time someone's used like a dog reference. I think they've made the connection to the old bud dog.
[00:18:51] Justin Kendall: Oh, that's a real dog.
[00:18:53] Zoe Licata: Yes, that was not a cartoon that could attract children.
[00:18:56] Justin Kendall: But I grew up with Spuds McKenzie and it did attract children, let me tell you.
[00:19:02] Zoe Licata: Fair.
[00:19:02] Justin Kendall: I felt marketed too.
[00:19:04] Zoe Licata: Fair. So yeah, so we'll see what happens with this when it comes out. Right now it has four flavors labeled under it. Berry Breeze, Lemon Lime, Strawberry Watermelon, and Tangerine Twist. My perception is it would be something for next year's resets, particularly as they're not really doing too much else with their current innovations until next year. That other one, other than Sidney's being lit, those malt based products that are in the light bulb shaped resealable containers.
[00:19:34] Justin Kendall: I think we both knew this was coming. I think we probably even talked about it.
[00:19:39] Zoe Licata: Yeah.
[00:19:39] Justin Kendall: I'm sure that we said how soon before Boston Beer enters this space and clearly they're trying to be a fast follower, fast-ish follower. They're not in the M&A market as far as I know for a brand like this, even though I'm sure many of the brands like this are. up for grabs as the Beer Marketers Insights panel sort of pointed to. But yeah, not surprising here that their three big innovations right now are all challenger brands. When you've got Rally Dog to go against Super Light and Vodkaid. Is it Vodkaid?
[00:20:19] Zoe Licata: Yeah, Vodkade and SpikedAde.
[00:20:22] Justin Kendall: Spiked Aid, yeah. And then you've got the Carbless Challenger, Sinless, and then Lit is obviously a Buzzballs, Biggies, whatever else is in that space that I can't drink as an old. I was in San Diego and I was in a hole-in-the-wall pizza place and I saw a cooler that was all BuzzBallz.
[00:20:44] Zoe Licata: Yeah.
[00:20:44] Justin Kendall: I was just kind of like, wow, you can just grab and go these things.
[00:20:49] Zoe Licata: Yeah, they've added a couple here in Massachusetts too. It's just full buzz balls, like mini fridges. It's wild. They're just everywhere. They're in the aisles as you're walking into the store. They're on the end caps. They are everywhere. recent observation. So I was in Seattle last week or week before, and lots of folks drinking Topo Chico hard seltzer, which I had not seen out and about in a while. And a lot of folks drinking Simply Spiked, which I hadn't seen in a while either. So that might be where those sales are coming from is on that West Coast and the Pacific Northwest, because it was everywhere, especially at the ballpark. The Simply Spiked, their higher ABV version, Simply Spiked Boulder. Yeah, all over the place.
[00:21:39] Justin Kendall: I'll tell you what you were witnessing. You were witnessing the power of Columbia Distributing Network.
[00:21:45] Zoe Licata: Yes. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:21:49] Justin Kendall: You're getting a first-hand look at that, but my observation from being out in the wild, and I posted a photo in the newsletter on Tuesday. I was at World Market. My daughter is obsessed. Four-year-old daughter is obsessed with World Market.
[00:22:06] Zoe Licata: I mean, that's like the magical lance.
[00:22:08] Justin Kendall: It is because she's on a pillow kick, which she inherited from her mother. I think this was their third trip to World Market in the last week, which I think we're on a moratorium. I ended up in the booze section and at the bottom of the shelf was Jacko Pumpkin Ale and Punkin Ale. We're talking about Boston beer. Here's the Seasonal Creep. They have those seasonal products out now, not to mention they put out a release saying that they're releasing an apple spice ale in their variety pack. So they're getting in the apple game too for fall and then a non-Octoberfest, which I think that's a little intriguing for me. Clearly the apple spice is just kind of a test balloon to see what works here before they go deeper into that.
[00:23:00] Zoe Licata: Into the apple that everyone is going into. Yeah, which is is working for some folks as donnell from three-tier beverages recently found for us But yeah, the fall beverages are here. I think they had halloween candy at the grocery store when I went this past week, so it's It's happening end of july world market had halloween decorations, too.
[00:23:22] Justin Kendall: So we're we're very close They're feeling the season Also on the Apple front, I talked to a friend who said that Keystone Light Apple just crushed. They were running out of it. So yeah. Look for that to come back here this fall.
[00:23:37] Zoe Licata: Yeah. I was at a 30th birthday party over the weekend and there was a good handful of folks drinking some capels.
[00:23:44] Justin Kendall: Nice. Well, that's all we got for you this week. So until next week, we'll be back.
[00:23:51] Outro: And that's our show for this week. Thank you for listening. The Brewbound Podcast is a production of BevNET CPG. Our audio engineer for the Brewbound Podcast is Joe Cracci. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski. Our designer is Amanda Huang. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your colleagues and friends and review us on your listening platform of choice. You can find our work at Brewbound.com and we also welcome feedback and suggestions at podcast at Brewbound.com. On behalf of the entire Brewbound podcast team, thank you for listening. We'll be back next week.
Interview: VIP has quietly powered the beverage industry for more than 50 years, trusted by more than 2,800 distributors and 1,400 suppliers. They have defined this industry time and again, and in this era of AI, they are leading the way. Today, we are joined by VIP CEO, Andrew Criezis. Andrew, how are you?
[00:24:59] Andrew Criezis: Good, thanks for having me, Jess.
[00:25:00] Jess Infante: Oh, thanks for being here. And head of sales, Lucinda Ochoa. Lucinda, how you doing, girl?
[00:25:06] Lucinda Ochwat: Hi, it's so good to see you, Jess.
[00:25:08] Jess Infante: Thanks for having us. Well, of course, and congrats on your new role. Thank you. I'm so excited. Well, we are going to discuss where the industry is headed, what customers can expect next, and how VIP fits into all of these equations. So let's set the stage here. VIP has been serving the beverage industry for more than 50 years. What has made this company such a trusted partner for so long?
[00:25:29] Andrew Criezis: Yeah, great question. I think in many ways, when we look at the industry, it's evolved a ton over those 50 years. And so as VIP started, our founder, Howard, worked side by side with distributors. And so as distributors were beginning to mature, and they were professionalizing their industry, they were expanding, you had Howard kind of side by side saying, how can I help make you more efficient? How can I help with the invoice process? How can I help with ordering? And so over time, that started to become the software and some of the data that enables a very complex industry, which is the three-tier system for the beverage and alcohol industry. And I think VIP was always seen as a partner that was willing to continue to innovate, willing to continue to build. And so as suppliers and distributors asked us for more capabilities or vice versa, we as a company had ideas, we kind of co-created. So this idea, I think over that 50 year period of co-creation and always being willing to go and continue to innovate is what allowed VIP to be a great partner that we are today. And it's why we're going to keep investing going forward with our clients.
[00:26:35] Jess Infante: Artificial intelligence is changing nearly every industry. How do you see AI affecting beverage industry technology?
[00:26:42] Andrew Criezis: Yeah, it's a huge win for the industry. I think that's the reality is when you look at whether you're a small supplier starting a company and you're trying to get your brand out the door and it's you and maybe two other people or you're a supplier or distributor that maybe has hundreds of people. Everyone's looking for extra hands. Everyone's looking for extra support to do the work and to be more efficient. And so here comes AI that initially maybe was just a chat feature. But with what we're doing at VIP is creating agents that are actually doing work. So all of a sudden you can have more support. You can have more work done, whether it's helping with pricing, whether it's insights about your products or the industry, helping you with something on the delivery side, the operations supply chain side. Now you've got this intelligence. And so I do think it's a win for the industry. It allows their suppliers to be smarter about their products. to be more successful in their operations, the same with distributors. At the end of the day, it becomes a win for consumers who are getting better products on time with the right prices. So that's really the goal here. And I think at the end of the day, those consumers will continue to win.
[00:27:42] Jess Infante: I think one thing that we do hear sometimes is that people, while they're all very excited about the technology, they don't want to lose the human element, especially in an industry like BevAlc, where everything really is powered on human relationships. Lucinda, how do you see all of this evolving in your new role?
[00:27:57] Lucinda Ochwat: Yeah, I love this question because I love how much AI is intended to empower the humans around us. And I've been in the business for more than 20 years and there's nothing more important than the people starting, of course, first and foremost with the consumers. So the way that we think about AI and the way that we're thinking about it as a sales team is that we're going to give all of the sales teams across all three tiers the tools with these agentic platforms to be able to have deeper and richer conversations with all of their customers. So think of a supplier rep that is able to get their route correct. They're able to get into their data. They're able to get insights that they were not able to see easily before. But we provide them the ability to pull out the best opportunities so they can go spend their time and spend more of it with the high value opportunities. no different than with our distributor reps. If you think about using a predictive order solution through an e-commerce site, that enables the distributor sales reps to go in and have conversations versus be counting inventory or getting orders in. And I'm giving some very simplified examples, but those are most certainly the places that I think that we are using AI and all of the tools that we're building and have built into giving all the humans in the industry the ability to have these really rich conversations and all of that funneling down to the consumer. So being able to reach the consumer easier and offering them everything that we know we have all these amazing products.
[00:29:35] Jess Infante: Sometimes technology moves faster than we as humans can even really grapple with or understand. So I think in some cases, people don't even really realize what's available. What are customers asking you both for today?
[00:29:48] Lucinda Ochwat: All of our customers are looking to us and they just have general questions, right? What is AI? It's this buzzword. What does it mean? How are you using it? And what's cool about being at VIP now is that I kind of get to see from the inside out how we've led the industry for so long with all these tools. And what we're enabling the teams with is very specific tools that are already embedded in a lot of our places. So think like iDig is a iDig now. Think Connect online ordering is now powered with predictive ordering. Think of routing solutions that now give you smarter ability to route. That is something that we're empowering everybody with and educating ourselves as we go. It's a daily update. That's where we're starting, Jess. And I think we'll continue to evolve. And, you know, even Andrew, to your point, six months ago looked very different than it is now.
[00:30:40] Andrew Criezis: Yeah, absolutely. And I would just build on and say, you know, the things that have been most common as I've been going around and diving into the company, Lucinda hit on this, it's more efficiency for sales reps. It's the predictive order. It's helped me be more effective in the field, whether that's sales reps, merchandisers, help me better optimize my routes. Gas prices are through the roof. So for those driving, how do you optimize the routes? How do you optimize the trucks? That's a big one. And then also on some of the data and insights, so kind of the back office functions, how do we continue to help so I can have my employees do higher value activity? So if you can help de-burden individuals within my company, I can finally get to all those projects and those innovations that we want to work on as a company, but we're stuck doing a ton of manual work. Again, the three-tier system is very complex from a pricing, contracting standpoint, delivery. There is a lot of manual work that gets done because of that complexity. And so clients are asking VIP, please help me. Please help me use AI, embed into your systems and our systems and help deliver some of that efficiency so I can do all the other things that I want to be doing. So those are some of the key trends that we continue to hear.
[00:31:47] Jess Infante: You're both somewhat new to your roles at VIP, but I am sure you have both worked with the company in various other capacities in your long beverage careers. But what's it been like being on the other side?
[00:31:58] Andrew Criezis: I'm absolutely loving it. So I've been in this CPG industry for over 12 years, very passionate about the beverage and alcohol space, which is kind of part of what drew me into VIP. And I got to know the team at VIP about five years ago, I got to experience the company through a partnership. And that's when I saw the talent, the level of talent, the culture, the importance that they play. Now on the inside, it completely is what you see on the outside, but more, it's like, oh, wow, now I get it. Now I get why they're able to innovate. The culture is so genuine, you know, supportive of each other, but also taking the customer at the heart and doing what's right for the customer. So for me, it's just been an amazing experience. I'm very fortunate and lucky and proud to be here at Leaguing this company.
[00:32:42] Lucinda Ochwat: Lucinda, how about for you? Yeah, Jess, so I've been in the business over 20 years. I got here as soon as I could. I started at age 21, and all I've used my entire career is VIP. So whether it was data, using Carba, whether it was the iDig reports, whether it was when I was at the distributor using the RAS platform, it's been remarkable. I showed up the first day to the VIP office here in Burlington and felt like I should be asking for autographs because it's the data I've used my whole life. I gotta tell you, when I got in, I didn't really know what to expect out of the software side of this industry. And it's remarkable. The culture is incredible. It really feels like a great team that's built from the ground up. So I think of like a great distributor in our business. And it feels the same. Like we've built this business alongside all the distributor partners for so long. So it's really cool. And the one thing I tell everybody that asks me this too, is I feel like I know a little bit about the business, right? Like I've worked in all three tiers. I, you know, I feel like I know some stuff. There's nobody that knows the business better than the product owners that are building these tools. It's incredible how much time they have spent throughout their careers with all of our customers, whether it's supplier field reps, whether it's distributors, whether it's hopping on trucks with to learn the routes and how they kind of go to business with that to help better update the solution. It's been really remarkable and so inspiring to see how we've gone about this and how we're continuing to go about it.
[00:34:16] Jess Infante: Amazing. Well, thank you both so much. This has been a delightful conversation and I can't wait to see what's next for all of you at VIP. Thank you so much, Jess. Thanks, Jess.
